EU to discuss more Russia sanctions, police support in Ukraine

Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:01pm EDT

* EU looks at possible police mission to Ukraine

* Discusses more sanctions against Russia

* Minutes of an earlier meeting suggest gas sanctions not on
table

By Justyna Pawlak and Adrian Croft

LUXEMBOURG, April 14 (Reuters) - European Union foreign
ministers will hold talks on Monday to discuss how to toughen
sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine without
losing the support of some EU governments worried about
antagonising a power with an energy stranglehold over Europe.

Under discussion are possible new economic sanctions, as
well as an EU mission to train police and other law-enforcement
officials in Ukraine and the bloc's approach to issuing visas
and trade with the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by
Moscow in March after popular protests toppled pro-Russian
president Viktor Yanukovich.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the
weekend, with Kiev announcing plans for a "full-scale
anti-terrorist operation" against a rash of rebellions in
eastern Ukraine that it says are inspired and directed by the
Kremlin.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed concern
on Sunday over "the surge of actions undertaken by armed
individuals and separatist groups in various cities of Eastern
Ukraine".

"The Russian Federation is urged to call back its troops
from the Ukrainian border and to cease any further actions aimed
at destabilising Ukraine," Ashton said in a statement.

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Friday the
Group of Seven leading rich nations would support increasing
sanctions against Russia if Moscow escalates the crisis in
Ukraine.

But a senior EU official said on Friday any wide-ranging
economic measures would not be ready by Monday, with the bloc's
28 governments focusing on diplomatic efforts to calm tensions
later in the week. Ashton is due to meet officials from the
United States, Russia and Ukraine in Geneva on Thursday.

"The real question will be to see whether (EU) member states
agree to ask (Ashton's office) to prepare an additional list of
restrictive measures," he told reporters.

It is unclear what areas of the Russian economy, if any,
could be subject to future EU sanctions. One EU diplomat said,
however, that the bloc could agree on Monday to add names to a
list of Russian and Crimean officials targeted by EU asset
freezes and visa bans over Moscow's takeover of the peninsula.

In talks with industry representatives and officials from
Ukraine last week, the EU's Energy Commissioner Guenther
Oettinger said natural gas, Russia's key export product, would
not be part of any sanctions, according to minutes of a
closed-door meeting in Brussels seen by Reuters.

The EU is highly dependent on Russian gas deliveries, and
the crisis over Ukraine has fanned concerns about future supply.

SQUABBLES OVER ENERGY

Russian President Vladimir Putin added to the tensions when
he wrote to 18 EU leaders last week telling them Russia would
cut gas supplies to Ukraine if it did not pay its bills and said
this could lead to a reduction of onward deliveries to Europe.

Oettinger is expected to discuss Putin's warning with EU
foreign ministers on Monday, according to a letter from European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to EU leaders on
Friday, seen by Reuters.

In addition to energy issues, the bloc is also weighing the
possibility of sending a mission of police and judicial advisers
to Ukraine to help stabilise the country, as proposed by
Britain, Sweden and Poland, and supported by Germany.

Such a mission - likely to irritate Russia - would seek to
rebuild Ukraine's police and legal system in the short term to
help combat sporadic violence in the country of 46 million
people and lay the groundwork for implementing a proposed
free-trade deal with the European Union.

The bloc also wants to define the legal aspects of its
relationship with Crimea, including how visas are issued to
residents of the peninsula, what passports and customs stamps
are honoured, all of which will be discussed on Monday.

"It is important to show that there won't be a recognition
of the annexation through the back door," says one diplomat.
(additional reporting by Tom Koerkemeier, Luke Baker and
Barbara Lewis in Brussels)